Can charcoal actually whiten your teeth?

Are you also one of them who are obsessed about how to get gleaming pearly whites? The latest fad propounded and vouched for these days is the whitening promise with the help of activated charcoal! Yes, every brand can spotted claiming about how charcoal can whiten your teeth! But can charcoal really make your pearly whites gleam as is claimed?

Activated charcoal is a purifying agent which helps in absorbing impurities. However, recently a superfine powdered version has made its way to the beauty and health market especially with the promise that it can help in removing those annoying stains from your teeth and make them glistening white.

The Proponent’s Viewpoint about whitening teeth with charcoal

The proponents of activated charcoal as a whitening agent believe that when you open the activated charcoal capsules, you need to:

mix the powder with water,

and then use this thick black paste to brush your teeth.

Then if you rinse your mouth after three to five minutes, apparently your teeth will be squeaky clean.

That is the theory that they propound about charcoal and its teeth whitening ability!

The Dentist’s Version

Dentists of the American Dental Association, however, are of the opinion that there is no proven evidence that activated charcoal can do any good to your teeth.

On the contrary, dentists are worried about the potential damage that the grainy properties of activated charcoal can do to your gums and teeth enamel. So they have not vouched about the safety and effectiveness of using activated charcoal. They further corroborate their opinion by citing examples that charcoal when used in toothpastes has not produced great results as well.

Dentists further opined that your teeth may become discolored due to multiple factors such as poor dental hygiene, the type of food that you eat, or it may be simply because of the fact that you are getting older.

Dentists of the American Dental Association further pointed out that activated charcoal, even if used, should not be done so with the thought that your regular visits to the dentist will stop or it can replace your everyday dental hygiene. They are further concerned with the fact that people are drawn to using these activated charcoal products without fluoride, which is in fact the cavity fighting agent and cuts tooth decay up to 40%.

The Dentist’s Recommendation

Dentists opine that if you are looking for those squeaky whites, there are better options available than activated charcoal that do work.

Activated charcoal in the present day context has no scientific evidence to back its claim.

To get that gleaming white smile, they say, you should either opt for the mainstream whitening toothpastes or get in touch with your dentist. The mainstream whitening toothpastes are at least safe for you to use. However, if you still wish to try out activated charcoal as a whitening agent, you should use it sparingly and should immediately discontinue using it if your teeth show signs of sensitivity towards it.

So, the ball is entirely in your court and hence you need to take a careful call before using it yourself or before blindly recommending it to others just by watching promotional videos of it on the net.